Touch and pressure-based apparel image searching

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and computer program products for pressure-based apparel image searching are provided herein. A computer-implemented method includes determining an object of interest within an image displayed on a screen by detecting physical contact imparted by a user at a particular position on the screen corresponding to where the first object is located; quantifying the amount of pressure applied by the user via the physical contact; determining additional objects of interest based on the amount of pressure applied by the user by identifying objects that are located within a specified distance from the first object, and wherein the specified distance corresponds to the amount of pressure applied by the user; retrieving, from at least one electronic commerce website, images of products corresponding to the first object of interest and images of products corresponding to each of the additional objects of interest; and displaying the retrieved images on the screen.

FIELD

The present application generally relates to information technology,and, more particularly, to image searching technologies.

BACKGROUND

Fashion is a multi-billion dollar industry with social and economicimplications worldwide. Commonly, people may wish to buy clothes thatthey see in images, photographs, advertisements, social media posts,smart phone applications (apps), etc. However, such people may havedifficulty describing the images via text and searching for a similarlook on various websites using such textual descriptions.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment of the present invention, techniques for touch andpressure-based apparel image searching are provided. An exemplarycomputer-implemented method can include determining a first object ofinterest within an image displayed on a screen, wherein determining thefirst object of interest comprises detecting physical contact impartedby a user at a particular position on the screen corresponding to wherethe first object of interest is located. Such a method can also includequantifying the amount of pressure applied by the user via the physicalcontact, and determining one or more additional objects of interestwithin the image based on the amount of pressure applied by the user viathe physical contact, wherein determining the additional objects ofinterest comprises identifying one or more objects that are locatedwithin a specified distance from the first object of interest in theimage, and wherein the specified distance corresponds to the amount ofpressure applied by the user via the physical contact. Further, such amethod can include retrieving, from at least one electronic commercewebsite, (i) one or more images of one or more products corresponding tothe first object of interest and (ii) one or more images of one or moreproducts corresponding to each of the one or more additional objects ofinterest, and displaying the retrieved images on the screen.

In another embodiment of the invention, an exemplarycomputer-implemented method can include converting each of multipleimages present in a product catalog of an electronic commerce website toa predetermined representation, and storing the converted images in anindex. Additionally, such a method can include determining a firstobject of interest within an image (i) derived from a social media postand (ii) displayed on a screen, wherein determining the first object ofinterest comprises detecting physical contact imparted by a user at aparticular position on the screen corresponding to where the firstobject of interest is located. Such a method can also includequantifying the amount of pressure applied by the user via the physicalcontact, and determining one or more additional objects of interestwithin the image based on the amount of pressure applied by the user viathe physical contact, wherein determining the additional objects ofinterest comprises identifying one or more objects that are locatedwithin a specified distance from the first object of interest in theimage, and wherein the specified distance corresponds to the amount ofpressure applied by the user via the physical contact. Further, such amethod can include retrieving, from the index, (i) one or more images ofone or more products corresponding to the first object of interest and(ii) one or more images of one or more products corresponding to each ofthe one or more additional objects of interest, and displaying theretrieved images on the screen.

Another embodiment of the invention or elements thereof can beimplemented in the form of a computer program product tangibly embodyingcomputer readable instructions which, when implemented, cause a computerto carry out a plurality of method steps, as described herein.Furthermore, another embodiment of the invention or elements thereof canbe implemented in the form of a system including a memory and at leastone processor that is coupled to the memory and configured to performnoted method steps. Yet further, another embodiment of the invention orelements thereof can be implemented in the form of means for carryingout the method steps described herein, or elements thereof; the meanscan include hardware module(s) or a combination of hardware and softwaremodules, wherein the software modules are stored in a tangiblecomputer-readable storage medium (or multiple such media).

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptionof illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connectionwith the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating nearest neighbor searching techniques,according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating nearest neighbor searching techniques,according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating techniques according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a system diagram of an exemplary computer system on which atleast one embodiment of the invention can be implemented;

FIG. 5 depicts a cloud computing environment according to an embodimentof the present invention; and

FIG. 6 depicts abstraction model layers according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As described herein, an embodiment of the present invention includestouch and pressure-based fashion image visual searching via attentionbased nearest neighbors. At least one embodiment of the inventionincludes automatically fetching products on a website (for example, aclothing seller's website) corresponding to the apparel and/or accessoryfor which the user is indicating interest via touch gestures on a screenand/or interface. As further detailed herein, one or more embodiments ofthe invention can include determining a region and/or object of interestwithin an image, based on pressure imparted by a user on thescreen/interface or holding a touched portion of the screen/interface bya user, and retrieving one or more products from a website (or Internetcatalogue) that are similar to and/or correspond to the region/object ofinterest.

Via one or more embodiments of the invention, a user can specify aproduct of interest within an image by touching a region on the imagewith his or her finger and/or a mouse or pointer on a screen of acomputing device (such as, a smart phone, a mobile device, a tablet, apersonal computer, etc.). In such an embodiment, the user does not haveto mark and/or segment an entire region of interest. Rather, the usercan simply point his or her finger (or mouse) approximately within theproduct of interest in the image. For example, in response to a usertouching any region of a shoe in an image, at least one embodiment ofthe invention can include fetching similar shoes from a website.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating nearest neighbor searching techniques,according to an embodiment of the invention. By way of illustration,FIG. 1 depicts a convolutional neural network (CoNN) 104 that is trainedwith a set of fashion images derived from the web and/or one or morefashion product catalogs 102. All images available in the productcatalog 102 (for example, of an e-commerce website) are converted to arepresentation within the CoNN 104 and stored in an index 106. Asdetailed herein, a CoNN can provide multiple levels of representationsfor a given image. By way of example, at least one embodiment of theinvention can include using the sixth layer (fc6), which is a 4096dimension vector. Additionally, CoNNs can be trained for objectclassification tasks as well as image searching. Specifically, given animage (such as an image from the fashion product catalog 102), the CoNN104 generates a representation for the image which captures one or moreitems of information embedded in the image. Also, the specific items ofinformation captured by the CoNN are determined by the user.

As also depicted in FIG. 1, given a new/input image 108 (for example, aphoto clicked on by a user from a social media post), a fast matchingalgorithm 112, such as an approximate nearest neighbor search algorithm,can be used to scan the index 106 created in connection with the CoNN104 and find the closest matching product 110.

With respect to the techniques depicted in FIG. 1, the 4096 dimensionvector captures the entire content in the image. As detailed herein, andas illustrated in FIG. 2, one or more embodiments of the invention caninclude using a CoNN run on the entire image to search for and/oridentify specific portions of an input image.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating nearest neighbor searching techniques,according to an embodiment of the invention. By way of illustration,FIG. 2 depicts an input image 202 of size 32×32 (that is, 32 pixels by32 pixels). One or more convolutions are carried out on at least aportion of the input image 202 to produce six feature maps in a firstimage layer (C1) 204, with each such feature map comprising a size of28×28. As used herein, “convolutions” are used to modify the spatialfrequency characteristics of an image, and a “feature map” is used tocapture the different visual characteristics in an image. Additionally,subsampling (that is, randomly selecting a sub-set) is carried out onall of the feature maps of the first image layer (C1) 204 to generatesix feature maps in a second image layer (S2) 206, with each suchfeature map comprising a size of 14×14.

Further, one or more convolutions are carried out on one or more of thefeature maps of the second image layer (S2) 206 to produce sixteenfeature maps in a third image layer (C3) 208, with each such feature mapcomprising a size of 28×28. Subsampling is then carried out on one ormore of the feature maps of the third image layer (C3) 208 to generatesixteen feature maps in a fourth image layer (S4) 210, with each suchfeature map comprising a size of 5×5.

Additionally, a full connection (that is, where every neuron in a givenlayer in the network is connected to every neuron in the next layer) iscarried out on one or more of the feature maps of the fourth image layer(S4) 210 to generate a fifth image layer (C5) 212 (which includes 120feature maps), and a full connection is carried out on at least aportion of the fifth image layer (C5) 212 to generate a sixth imagelayer (F6) 214 (which includes 84 feature maps). Based on the sixthimage layer (F6) 214, one or more Gaussian connections are determinedand implemented to generate an output 216 (which includes ten featuremaps).

As depicted in FIG. 2, in response to a user touch and/or user pressureapplied to a particular portion of an image (or on a particular garment)via a screen and/or user interface, at least one embodiment of theinvention includes utilizing one or more lower layer features of theimage. Examples of such features can include color(s) of objects in theimage, shape(s) of objects in the image, etc. Such lower layer featuresare available at different resolutions and are available for differentlocations in the input image 202. Based on the location of the inputimage 202 touched by the user, at least one embodiment of the inventioncan include defining a Gaussian kernel (function) centered on the user'stouch (for example, the point at which the user's finger contacted theinput image). The feature representations from all locations of theinput image are then weighted by this kernel and summed to generate afeature representation for the image for the location of the input image202 touched by the user. As used herein, such feature representationsinclude learned vector representations which capture differentcharacteristics of an image which are deemed relevant for the end-task,as learned from training data.

Based on the amount pressure applied by the user in contacting a portionof the input image 202, the width of the Gaussian kernel can beincreased to retrieve one or more images of varying scales (for example,because the objects of interest in the image can be presented in anyarbitrary scale). As such, in accordance with one or more embodiments ofthe invention, upon a user applying an increased amount pressure on asegment of an input image, such an embodiment includes performing animage search of one or more neighboring segments (for example, one ormore adjacent segments to the segment on which the pressure is beingapplied). Such an imaging search of one or more neighboring segments canresult in obtaining and/or generating a bounding box with just one touchof the image from the user (precluding the need, for example, for theuser to lift his or her the finger and touch the image one or moreadditional times). As used herein, a “bounding box” (such asillustrated, for example, by the square in the lower-right corner of theinput image 202 in FIG. 2) is a box that is used to indicate anyrectangular region of interest in an image.

Based on the use of one or more tactile sensors (commonly present inexisting mobile devices, for example), at least one embodiment of theinvention can include sensing and/or quantifying the amount of pressureapplied by the user via physical contact with the device screen byperforming a parametric fitting to a Gaussian distribution. Accordingly,such an embodiment can sense the distribution of the pressure in theregion surrounding the point of physical contact. Further, in such anembodiment, the intensity of pressure at every point in the distributioncan act as a proxy for the degree of interest of the user. As would beappreciated by one skilled in the art, touch-sensitive displays (withincomputing devices such as mobile devices) are commonly employed withtouch pressure quantification functionality.

Additionally, as further detailed herein, based on the pressureintensity quantified at different regions in the image, at least oneembodiment of the invention can include identifying one or moredifferent spatial feature maps of importance. Accordingly, the pressureintensity quantifications can act as weights for combining the featuremaps, thus boosting the importance of certain regions in the image.

In accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention, given animage and the finger position of the user on an image (as well as, inone or more embodiments, the amount of pressure applied by the user),such an embodiment includes generating an image representation using,for instance, the techniques described in connection with FIG. 1.Additionally, one or more (for example, all) images available in aproduct catalog of one or more websites (such as e-commerce apparelwebsites) are converted to the representation for one or more possiblepositions, and such converted images are stored in at least one index.With respect to the above-noted “positions,” for every product, multipleimages from different orientations or positions are available, and therepresentations of the images are learned from each of these differentorientations or positions. Given such a representation for a new (input)image, such an embodiment of the invention can include implementing afast approximate nearest neighbor algorithm to automatically fetch theproducts in the catalog(s) corresponding to the apparel and/or accessorywithin the image that is being touched and/or selected by a user.

As detailed herein, one or more embodiments of the invention includelinking an input image being touched by a user (for example, on a socialmedia website) and one or more e-commerce apparel websites that containone or more product catalogs. In such embodiments, the product catalogsof one or more e-commerce apparel websites are converted to theabove-noted representation and indexed prior to implementing the notedtechniques of finding e-commerce catalog items that match a user-touchedsocial media post image. Accordingly, one or more embodiments of theinvention can include creating a product catalog index, storing thatindex separately from the actual e-commerce website in question, andsubsequently searching a new input image against the stored index(meaning that, in such an embodiment, there is no need to actuallytransfer the user's web browser to the e-commerce site in question).

Additionally, in connection with screens and/or user interfaces that cansense pressure, at least one embodiment of the invention can produce oneor more objects at different scales in response to a user pressingharder (or softer) on a given object within an image. By way merely ofexample, consider a user viewing an image of a woman wearing a shirt anda skirt, and also holding a handbag. If the user touches on the handbagin the image, one or more embodiments of the invention can includeretrieving one or more images of relevant handbag products from at leastone (indexed) e-commerce website. Additionally, if the user pressesharder (that is, with increased pressure) on the handbag in the image,at least one embodiment of the invention can include retrieving one ormore images of relevant skirt products and/or one or more images ofrelevant shirt products from at least one (indexed) e-commerce website.As noted herein, in one or more embodiments of the invention, theproduct images are retrieved from a stored index while the imagecorresponds to a hyperlink to the actual product display page on thee-commerce website (such that the user can quickly make the purchaseshould he or she desire).

As detailed herein, one or more embodiments of the invention includeprojecting an area of an image, touched and/or highlighted by a user, toa convolution and/or pool layer below the fully connected layers of theimage. As used herein, “projecting” is equivalent to matrixmultiplication, whereby the image is also originally represented as amatrix. The user's touch and amount of applied pressure can be used todefine a mask (that is, a region of interest) for the fully connectedlayers, and the masked region can be used for querying. Also,embodiments of the invention are not limited by predefined categories.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating techniques according to anembodiment of the present invention. Step 302 includes determining afirst object of interest within an image displayed on a screen, whereinsaid determining the first object of interest comprises detectingphysical contact imparted by a user at a particular position on thescreen corresponding to where the first object of interest is located.The first object of interest can include an item of apparel, an apparelaccessory, etc. Additionally, the screen can include a mobile devicescreen, a desktop computer screen, etc. Further, the physical contactcan include a touch by the user's finger and/or a touch by a pointingdevice.

Determining the first object of interest can include defining a Gaussiankernel centered on the particular position on the screen. Also, at leastone embodiment of the invention can additionally include weightingfeature representations from multiple positions on the screen based onthe Gaussian kernel, as well as determining the feature representationfor the particular position on the screen by summing the weightedfeature representations from the multiple positions on the screen.Further, one or more embodiments of the invention can include increasingthe width of the Gaussian kernel based on the quantified amount ofpressure applied by the user via the physical contact.

Step 304 includes quantifying the amount of pressure applied by the uservia the physical contact. Such a quantification step can be carried outbased on a sensor reading. Step 306 includes determining one or moreadditional objects of interest within the image based on the amount ofpressure applied by the user via the physical contact, wherein saiddetermining the additional objects of interest comprises identifying oneor more objects that are located within a specified distance from thefirst object of interest in the image, and wherein the specifieddistance corresponds to the amount of pressure applied by the user viathe physical contact. The additional objects of interest can include oneor more items of apparel, one or more apparel accessories, etc.

Step 308 includes retrieving, from at least one electronic commercewebsite, (i) one or more images of one or more products corresponding tothe first object of interest and (ii) one or more images of one or moreproducts corresponding to each of the one or more additional objects ofinterest. The electronic commerce website can include, for example, afashion website and/or an apparel-selling website.

Step 310 includes displaying the retrieved images on the screen.Additionally, the image displayed on the screen can include an imagederived from a source that is separate from the at least one electroniccommerce website.

Also, an additional embodiment of the invention includes converting eachof multiple images present in a product catalog of an electroniccommerce website to a predetermined representation, and storing theconverted images in an index. Additionally, such an embodiment caninclude determining a first object of interest within an image (i)derived from a social media post and (ii) displayed on a screen, whereindetermining the first object of interest comprises detecting physicalcontact imparted by a user at a particular position on the screencorresponding to where the first object of interest is located. Such anembodiment can also include quantifying the amount of pressure appliedby the user via the physical contact, and determining one or moreadditional objects of interest within the image based on the amount ofpressure applied by the user via the physical contact, whereindetermining the additional objects of interest comprises identifying oneor more objects that are located within a specified distance from thefirst object of interest in the image, and wherein the specifieddistance corresponds to the amount of pressure applied by the user viathe physical contact. Further, such an embodiment can includeretrieving, from the index, (i) one or more images of one or moreproducts corresponding to the first object of interest and (ii) one ormore images of one or more products corresponding to each of the one ormore additional objects of interest, and displaying the retrieved imageson the screen.

At least one embodiment of the invention (such as the techniquesdepicted in FIG. 3, for example), can include implementing a service viaa transmission server to receive data from a data source and sendselected data to users (for example, at a provided destination addressof a wireless device (such as a number for a cellular phone, etc.)). Thetransmission server includes a memory, a transmitter, and amicroprocessor. Such an embodiment of the invention can also includeproviding a viewer application to the users for installation on theirindividual devices. Additionally, in such an embodiment of theinvention, after a user enrolls, the service receives user-highlightedimage information sent from a data source to the transmission server.The server can process the information, for example, based uponuser-provided user preference information that is stored in memory onthe server. Subsequently, an alert is generated containing relatede-commerce product information. The alert can be formatted into datablocks, for example, based upon any provided alert format preferenceinformation. Subsequently, the alert and/or formatted data blocks aretransmitted over a data channel to the user's wireless device. Afterreceiving the alert, the user can connect the wireless device to theuser's computer, whereby the alert causes the user's computer toautomatically launch the application provided by the service to displaythe alert. When connected to the Internet, the user may then use theviewer application (for example, via clicking on a URL associated withthe data source provided in the alert) to facilitate a connection fromthe remote user computer to the data source over the Internet foradditional information.

The techniques depicted in FIG. 3 can also, as described herein, includeproviding a system, wherein the system includes distinct softwaremodules, each of the distinct software modules being embodied on atangible computer-readable recordable storage medium. All of the modules(or any subset thereof) can be on the same medium, or each can be on adifferent medium, for example. The modules can include any or all of thecomponents shown in the figures and/or described herein. In anembodiment of the invention, the modules can run, for example, on ahardware processor. The method steps can then be carried out using thedistinct software modules of the system, as described above, executingon a hardware processor. Further, a computer program product can includea tangible computer-readable recordable storage medium with code adaptedto be executed to carry out at least one method step described herein,including the provision of the system with the distinct softwaremodules.

Additionally, the techniques depicted in FIG. 3 can be implemented via acomputer program product that can include computer useable program codethat is stored in a computer readable storage medium in a dataprocessing system, and wherein the computer useable program code wasdownloaded over a network from a remote data processing system. Also, inan embodiment of the invention, the computer program product can includecomputer useable program code that is stored in a computer readablestorage medium in a server data processing system, and wherein thecomputer useable program code is downloaded over a network to a remotedata processing system for use in a computer readable storage mediumwith the remote system.

An embodiment of the invention or elements thereof can be implemented inthe form of an apparatus including a memory and at least one processorthat is coupled to the memory and configured to perform exemplary methodsteps.

Additionally, an embodiment of the present invention can make use ofsoftware running on a computer or workstation. With reference to FIG. 4,such an implementation might employ, for example, a processor 402, amemory 404, and an input/output interface formed, for example, by adisplay 406 and a keyboard 408. The term “processor” as used herein isintended to include any processing device, such as, for example, onethat includes a CPU (central processing unit) and/or other forms ofprocessing circuitry. Further, the term “processor” may refer to morethan one individual processor. The term “memory” is intended to includememory associated with a processor or CPU, such as, for example, RAM(random access memory), ROM (read only memory), a fixed memory device(for example, hard drive), a removable memory device (for example,diskette), a flash memory and the like. In addition, the phrase“input/output interface” as used herein, is intended to include, forexample, a mechanism for inputting data to the processing unit (forexample, mouse), and a mechanism for providing results associated withthe processing unit (for example, printer). The processor 402, memory404, and input/output interface such as display 406 and keyboard 408 canbe interconnected, for example, via bus 410 as part of a data processingunit 412. Suitable interconnections, for example via bus 410, can alsobe provided to a network interface 414, such as a network card, whichcan be provided to interface with a computer network, and to a mediainterface 416, such as a diskette or CD-ROM drive, which can be providedto interface with media 418.

Accordingly, computer software including instructions or code forperforming the methodologies of the invention, as described herein, maybe stored in associated memory devices (for example, ROM, fixed orremovable memory) and, when ready to be utilized, loaded in part or inwhole (for example, into RAM) and implemented by a CPU. Such softwarecould include, but is not limited to, firmware, resident software,microcode, and the like.

A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing programcode will include at least one processor 402 coupled directly orindirectly to memory elements 404 through a system bus 410. The memoryelements can include local memory employed during actual implementationof the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories which providetemporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce thenumber of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage duringimplementation.

Input/output or I/O devices (including, but not limited to, keyboards408, displays 406, pointing devices, and the like) can be coupled to thesystem either directly (such as via bus 410) or through intervening I/Ocontrollers (omitted for clarity).

Network adapters such as network interface 414 may also be coupled tothe system to enable the data processing system to become coupled toother data processing systems or remote printers or storage devicesthrough intervening private or public networks. Modems, cable modems andEthernet cards are just a few of the currently available types ofnetwork adapters.

As used herein, including the claims, a “server” includes a physicaldata processing system (for example, system 412 as shown in FIG. 4)running a server program. It will be understood that such a physicalserver may or may not include a display and keyboard.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out embodiments of the presentinvention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The computer readable program instructions may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including,for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform embodiments of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention are described herein with referenceto flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

It should be noted that any of the methods described herein can includean additional step of providing a system comprising distinct softwaremodules embodied on a computer readable storage medium; the modules caninclude, for example, any or all of the components detailed herein. Themethod steps can then be carried out using the distinct software modulesand/or sub-modules of the system, as described above, executing on ahardware processor 402. Further, a computer program product can includea computer-readable storage medium with code adapted to be implementedto carry out at least one method step described herein, including theprovision of the system with the distinct software modules.

In any case, it should be understood that the components illustratedherein may be implemented in various forms of hardware, software, orcombinations thereof, for example, application specific integratedcircuit(s) (ASICS), functional circuitry, an appropriately programmeddigital computer with associated memory, and the like. Given theteachings of the invention provided herein, one of ordinary skill in therelated art will be able to contemplate other implementations of thecomponents of the invention.

Additionally, it is understood in advance that implementation of theteachings recited herein are not limited to a particular computingenvironment. Rather, embodiments of the present invention are capable ofbeing implemented in conjunction with any type of computing environmentnow known or later developed.

For example, cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enablingconvenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurablecomputing resources (for example, networks, network bandwidth, servers,processing, memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, andservices) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimalmanagement effort or interaction with a provider of the service. Thiscloud model may include at least five characteristics, at least threeservice models, and at least four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (for example, country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (for example, storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (for example, web-basede-mail). The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloudinfrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage,or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exceptionof limited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (for example, host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(for example, mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (for example, cloud burstingfor load-balancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 5, illustrative cloud computing environment 50 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 50 includes one or morecloud computing nodes 10 with which local computing devices used bycloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA)or cellular telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C,and/or automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Nodes 10 maycommunicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physicallyor virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community,Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combinationthereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50 to offerinfrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloudconsumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 54A-N shownin FIG. 5 are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes10 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with any type ofcomputerized device over any type of network and/or network addressableconnection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 6, a set of functional abstraction layers providedby cloud computing environment 50 (FIG. 5) is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 6 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of theinvention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes 61; RISC(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 62;servers 63; blade servers 64; storage devices 65; and networks andnetworking components 66. In some embodiments, software componentsinclude network application server software 67 and database software 68.

Virtualization layer 70 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers71; virtual storage 72; virtual networks 73, including virtual privatenetworks; virtual applications and operating systems 74; and virtualclients 75. In one example, management layer 80 may provide thefunctions described below. Resource provisioning 81 provides dynamicprocurement of computing resources and other resources that are utilizedto perform tasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering andPricing 82 provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within thecloud computing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption ofthese resources.

In one example, these resources may include application softwarelicenses. Security provides identity verification for cloud consumersand tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources. Userportal 83 provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management 84provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such thatrequired service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planningand fulfillment 85 provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of,cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipatedin accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 90 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation 91; software development and lifecycle management 92; virtualclassroom education delivery 93; data analytics processing 94;transaction processing 95; and image searching 96, in accordance withthe one or more embodiments of the present invention.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of anotherfeature, step, operation, element, component, and/or group thereof.

At least one embodiment of the present invention may provide abeneficial effect such as, for example, projecting a touched area of avisual search to a convolution and/or pool layer below fully connectedlayers.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:determining a first object of interest within an image displayed on ascreen, wherein said determining the first object of interest comprises(i) detecting physical contact imparted by a user at a particularposition on the screen corresponding to where the first object ofinterest is located, and (ii) defining a Gaussian kernel centered on theparticular position on the screen, wherein defining the Gaussian kernelcomprises increasing the width of the Gaussian kernel based on thequantified amount of pressure applied by the user via the physicalcontact; quantifying the amount of pressure applied by the user via thephysical contact; determining one or more additional objects of interestwithin the image based on the amount of pressure applied by the user viathe physical contact, wherein said determining the additional objects ofinterest comprises identifying one or more objects that are locatedwithin a specified distance from the first object of interest in theimage, and wherein the specified distance corresponds to the amount ofpressure applied by the user via the physical contact; retrieving, fromat least one electronic commerce website, (i) one or more images of oneor more products corresponding to the first object of interest and (ii)one or more images of one or more products corresponding to each of theone or more additional objects of interest; and displaying the retrievedimages on the screen; wherein the method is carried out by at least onecomputing device.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinthe first object of interest comprises an item of apparel.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first object ofinterest comprises an apparel accessory.
 4. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the screen comprises a mobile device screen.5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the screencomprises a desktop computer screen.
 6. The computer-implemented methodof claim 1, wherein the physical contact comprises a touch by the user'sfinger.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein thephysical contact comprises a touch by a pointing device.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising: weighting featurerepresentations from multiple positions on the screen based on theGaussian kernel.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8,comprising: determining the feature representation for the particularposition on the screen by summing the weighted feature representationsfrom the multiple positions on the screen.
 10. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the one or more additional objects ofinterest comprise one or more items of apparel.
 11. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or moreadditional objects of interest comprise one or more apparel accessories.12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the at least oneelectronic commerce website comprises an apparel-selling website. 13.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the image displayedon the screen comprises an image derived from a source that is separatefrom the at least one electronic commerce website.
 14. A computerprogram product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storagemedium having program instructions embodied therewith, the programinstructions executable by a device to cause the device to: determine afirst object of interest within an image displayed on a screen, whereinsaid determining the first object of interest comprises (i) detectingphysical contact imparted by a user at a particular position on thescreen corresponding to where the first object of interest is located,and (ii) defining a Gaussian kernel centered on the particular positionon the screen, wherein defining the Gaussian kernel comprises increasingthe width of the Gaussian kernel based on the quantified amount ofpressure applied by the user via the physical contact; quantify anamount of pressure applied by the user via the physical contact;determine one or more additional objects of interest within the imagebased on the amount of pressure applied by the user via the physicalcontact, wherein said determining the additional objects of interestcomprises identifying one or more objects that are located within aspecified distance from the first object of interest in the image, andwherein the specified distance corresponds to the amount of pressureapplied by the user via the physical contact; retrieve, from at leastone electronic commerce website, (i) one or more images of one or moreproducts corresponding to the first object of interest and (ii) one ormore images of one or more products corresponding to each of the one ormore additional objects of interest; and display the retrieved images onthe screen.
 15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein saiddetermining the first object of interest comprises defining a Gaussiankernel centered on the particular position on the screen.
 16. Thecomputer program product of claim 15, wherein the program instructionsfurther cause the device to: weight feature representations frommultiple positions on the screen based on the Gaussian kernel; anddetermine the feature representation for the particular position on thescreen by summing the weighted feature representations from the multiplepositions on the screen.
 17. A system comprising: a memory; and at leastone processor operably coupled to the memory and configured for:determining a first object of interest within an image displayed on ascreen, wherein said determining the first object of interest comprises(i) detecting physical contact imparted by a user at a particularposition on the screen corresponding to where the first object ofinterest is located, and (ii) defining a Gaussian kernel centered on theparticular position on the screen, wherein defining the Gaussian kernelcomprises increasing the width of the Gaussian kernel based on thequantified amount of pressure applied by the user via the physicalcontact; quantifying the amount of pressure applied by the user via thephysical contact; determining one or more additional objects of interestwithin the image based on the amount of pressure applied by the user viathe physical contact, wherein said determining the additional objects ofinterest comprises identifying one or more objects that are locatedwithin a specified distance from the first object of interest in theimage, and wherein the specified distance corresponds to the amount ofpressure applied by the user via the physical contact; retrieving, fromat least one electronic commerce website, (i) one or more images of oneor more products corresponding to the first object of interest and (ii)one or more images of one or more products corresponding to each of theone or more additional objects of interest; and displaying the retrievedimages on the screen.